This month, I traveled to San Jose for the Northwest Regional Futsal Championship with Cate and her team. This was our third trip for a futsal tournament in San Jose, and our girls did not disappoint.
In the first game, we dominated a team from Santa Clara. In the second game, our girls came out on top. It was amazing to see Cate start off the attacks as the equivalent of a central midfielder and pull the strings. She scored one of our two goals in our third match, which we won 2-1 and which sent us into the semifinals.
That semifinal match was a rematch against a larger, more physical group of girls who had defeated us last year. Because of last year's loss, we knew what we would be up against. However, that only seemed to increase the intimidation factor. Their girls kicked, lunged, and pushed while our girls tried to play a game of futsal. We went down 1-0 at half but were still very much in the game. In the second half, we withdrew further into our shells while the other team came out even more aggressively. In the end, we lost 5-1 - an unfair scoreline given that our girls were clearly the more skilled side. However, one does not win on style points; one wins by putting the ball in the back of the net.
Despite, this I am really proud of the way Cate and her teammates carried themselves and the way they tried to play the game. When Pep Guardiola took over as Barca coach in 2008, he did not promise trophies, which he went on deliver anyway. Rather, he promised to play football that would make the fans proud. For that reason, Cate and her teammates can hold their heads high. I can't wait until next year!
